Have you ever grown your hair for charity?
A couple of years ago, a beloved friend died of cancer. Before he passed away, I promised to make a special tribute to him—to grow my hair very long and then donate it for a sick person’s wig.
Of course I’m honoring my promise, but this effort’s really taking a long time! I still have a while to go. I’m middle-aged, so I look a bit silly with such long hair. And, because the hair belongs to someone else, and not to me, I’m making sure that I don’t damage it—no blow dryers, hot rollers, curling irons, etc. All I do is wash it twice a week, comb it, and let it air-dry.
Has anyone done this sort of thing? If yes, how was your own experience?
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16 Answers
Not in your sense, but my daughter raised money by shaving her hair off for cancer. How long does the hair need to be?
No I’m black and my hair grows very differently from white hair (it spirals instead of growing instead of growing straight) so it’s pretty much impossible for my hair to grow long enough to do that
My husband has and he donated it so that my organization can provide free wigs to cancer patients.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir That was a wonderful thing for your husband to do. Human-hair wigs are extremely expensive, and not everyone can afford to buy one. Cancer patients, burn victims, people with alopecia…there’s quite a bit of need out there.
@faye There are a number of charities that do this sort of thing. The required length varies between 8” – 12”.
Thanks, I’ll google Canada. My hair is about 8” now so I’ll grow to 12”. That is if they don’t mind a little grey in there!!!
Haven’t grown it out for charity, but shaved it off for cancer research in March (like @faye ‘s daughter). So for me it’s less about dealing with long hair and more about trying to cover up my baldness with hats and headbands. XD So, a very different experience.
I think more middle-aged women should grow their hair out. My mom is 49 and has hair down to her waist and gets complimented all the time. :)
And when you cut it off it will be for a great cause.
A girl in my college did this. Her hair had been long for a while, so she didn’t really decide to grow it, just to cut off 2 feet of it for charity.
I think it is a very unusual, but novel and lovely thing to do. Good luck!
I grew my hair out and donated in to Locks of Love. I think i was about 11”
@faye “That is if they don’t mind a little grey in there!!!” This is another thing that depends on the specific charity. Some won’t accept any grey hair; some are fine with it.
Also, chemical treatments—coloring, highlights, perms—is determined on a charity-by-charity basis.
This website www.squidoo.com/donateyourhair provides some general information plus a list, with hotlinks, of the various charities.
I shaved mine off once in support of a friend on chemotherapy. I found that I (and Meg) liked it that way and continued that way ever since.
@stranger_in_a_strange_land Are you male or female? (If you’re a girl or a woman, I’m impressed beyond belief.) Regardless, though, that was a kind and supportive thing for you to do.
@Primobabe I’m a guy, 6’ 5” 240 lbs. I was losing my hair anyway, so it looks better this way (or so I’m told). My beard is about half gray, so I present a rather “upside down” look (which usually matches my attitude).
I didn’t grow it long for that purpose, but I had quite long hair, and they cut off about 7 inches and donated it to Locks of Love, and I still had quite enough hair for me as well.
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